Publication2 med aquascape Publication1cs complete | Page 69

Pairs defending territory boundaries
chasing. Once the pair has bonded, the two fish will
stake out a territory, which will include a lot of dig-
ging and rearranging. Any fish within that vicinity
will be chased away. These are open spawners, so a
suitable rock is cleaned so that the eggs can be de-
posited. Depending on the size of the fish a few
hundred up to a thousand eggs can be deposited.
Fertilized eggs will hatch in around 3 days; this is
when the parents will move the fish to a dug out
pit (nursery pit). After around 6 days the fry will
slowly emerge and become free swimming. At this
stage the parents spawning dress becomes pale
almost cream colour, with a darker belly and throat
region. It's also interesting to note, that spawning
pairs observed in the wild adopt a bright yellow
colouration. This spawning dress can be quite diffi-
cult to stimulate within the aquarium, one theory is
to do with low pressure conditions. Parental care is
done in typical cichlid fashion with the male and
female tending the brood. Both fish will take over
parental responsibility if one needs to feed. How-
ever it’s worth noting that male fish can suddenly
turn and attack the female. This unfortunate inci-
33
dent happened to one of my pairs even though
the female was attending to wrigglers. Nothing
could be done at the time and I was greeted by
the female badly beaten hiding in the corner, with
no sign of the brood. Although she was quickly
removed into a hospital tank, she succumbed. I
can only put this down to stress and possible in-
ternal injuries. Again centrals show these diverse
behaviour patterns and one need to be ready all
the time just in case!